Pig Bulletin August 2014

Milkiwean Yoghurt: The ideal supplementary feed for piglets from day 1

Milkiwean Yoghurt has been developed to be the piglet's first supplementary feed, delivering a complementary feed during the suckling period which fully meets the nutritional demands of the young pig. Milkiwean Yoghurt is unique in composition and contains approximately 2.7 x higher dry matter than a regular milk replacer with much higher levels of fat (the piglet's main energy source). As a result, piglets have improved energy and dry matter intake, better preparing them for the transition to solid feed and improving growth and vitality to weaning.

It is advised to feed Milkiwean Yoghurt to all piglets from day 1 of lactation for at least 14 days, preferably longer with a gradual transition to solid creep, offered fresh, ideally twice per day. The aim is to keep all piglets with the sow, minimising the need for motherless rearing and back fostering. The unique composition of Milkiwean Yoghurt stimulates early feed intake and aids development of the digestive system, reducing piglet weight variability at weaning and resulting in a more robust piglet. This is of particular benefit to large litters and litters where birthweight is highly variable, resulting in an increased number of low viability piglets.

Feeding Milkiwean Yoghurt during the suckling period has been proven to reduce piglet mortality before weaning. Mortality increases with increasing litter size with theprimary cause being starvation due to inadequate colostrum and/or milk intake.Providing supplementary nutrition right from the start helps prevent the lossof piglets that might otherwise be unviable.

Recent research has shown yoghurt to be of significant benefit not only to high risk litters however – compared with only feeding a traditional prestarter creep before weaning, feeding yoghurt in conjunction with solid creep significantly improved weaning weights by 8%. Feeding yoghurt prior to prestarter creep has also been shown to stimulate intake of solid creep, thus further enhancing dry matter intake pre-weaning.

Advantages of Milkiwean Yoghurt:

Improved feed intake before weaning compared with dry creep

Reduced mortality, on average an extra pig weaned per litter

Improved piglet weaning weights

Smoother transition to dry feed

Reduced within litter variation at weaning

May also be used as a drench for small piglets at birth as an energy boost to improve viability

Product Characteristics:

Spray dried, homogenised, pasteurised milk powder

Fat particle size equal to mother’s milk to optimise digestibility

10 kg sealed bags, quality assured

Soluble and stable in solution for up to 24 hours

Attractive milk flavour

Composition comparable to sow’s milk

Feeding Guidelines:

Age

Milkiwean YoghurtLitres/litter/feeding

Dry Creep Grams/litter/day

Day 1

Colostrum + 0.25

-

Week 1

0.25 – 0.75

-

Week 2

0.75 – 1.25

-

Week 3

1.25 – 2

200

Week 4

2

300

Milkiwean Yoghurt is prepared by mixing at a ratio of 1kg to 2.5l of luke warm water. Offering the product from day 1 means piglets become accustomed to the smell and taste from the start, giving an imprinting effect which encourages further consumption.

Milkiwean Yoghurt is also an ideal feed for piglets weaned early. It can be fed in conjunction with dry creep to promote intake and growth rate.